What Do You Do When You Interview at an Investment Bank and Never Hear Back?

“It was great meeting you – we’ll get back to you in a few days!”

The VP shakes your hand, and you turn around and leave the room.

You walk out of the interview on top of the world.

After studying technical questions for 143 hours and reciting your story so many times that you could walk through your resume in your sleep, you’re confident you knocked this one out of the park.

You get back home and watch some TV to unwind…

And then a day passes.

You hear nothing.

Another day passes.

Still nothing.

And then it’s a week…

And before you know it, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, or even an entire month.

And you never hear back from that bank.

So what happened? Where did you go wrong?

Does it mean you got rejected and they’re not telling you? Or are they just disorganized?

And most importantly, what can you do to get a response?

Why You Get the Silent Treatment

Because you’re not the #1 candidate for the position.

The bank has already given an offer to someone else, or it has already given out the “targeted” number of offers, and it’s waiting for people to respond.

If candidates turn down their offers, the bank will approach candidates ranked lower on the list and start making offers to them.

So it’s not that you “failed” the interview – it’s just that other people were more impressive or fit in with the group better.

In some cases, this actually happens because the bank or group is so disorganized that they “forget” to notify you, which is why it’s critical to call back 2-3 days later AT MOST (and ideally before that).

It could even be something stupid, such as the bank losing your contact information or recording the incorrect email address or phone number.

Recruiting is at the bottom of the priority list for bankers – they are busy doing deals, winning clients, and otherwise making money.

Sometimes, it’s even at the bottom of the priority list for HR because they’re busy with… afternoon tea time each day? I have no idea, but it sure seems like that sometimes.

Let’s say you go in for Superday interviews with 10 other candidates, at a smaller, regional bank that’s looking to hire 2 interns for the summer.

Here’s what might happen behind the scenes:

The VP, MD, Associate, and 2 Analysts all like the same person the most and they decide to give him an immediate offer the day after the interview.

Meanwhile, they’re divided on other candidates: the VP and MD like 2 other candidates the most and can’t decide between them, while the Associate and Analysts like 2 different candidates the most and rank them equally.

And they all agree that the remaining 5 candidates were not nearly as good.

The reasons vary, but some banks believe – incorrectly? – that it may be a legal liability to give you a “no” answer upfront.

Meanwhile, other people don’t like to deliver “bad news.”

But the main reason is that it costs the bank nothing to put you on hold and wait for other candidates to respond.

After all, if they give you an outright rejection, that’s it.

But if they don’t get back to you, or they respond to your emails but don’t give you a direct answer, the doors are always open.

And if the Top Candidate unexpectedly turns down his offer and can’t be persuaded otherwise, they’ll need to come back to you and everyone else on their list.

Realistically, What Can You Do About This?

The worst thing to do is to sit around, do nothing, and wait on a response from them.

Undergrads are particularly terrible about this – 90% of our email volume on this question has come from university students asking, “So I interviewed 3 weeks ago but haven’t heard back yet. Should I do anything?”

Yes, and you should have “done something” 2.5 weeks ago.

If you don’t hear back within 2 days, email at least 1-2 of your interviewees to follow-up, thank them again, and express your continued interest in the firm (those exact words can almost be your email template). Send a similar note to HR.

If they respond and they’re still communicating with you, you’re still in the running… whereas radio silence almost always means “no.”

Once you’ve emailed everyone, there are only 3 things you can do to get a response from the bank (and ideally an offer):

1. Win Other, Exploding Offers and Let Them Know About Your Deadlines

Just like the high school social scene, the job search process is also a popularity contest.

The moment you get an offer from another bank, you immediately become more attractive to everyone else and you’re more likely to receive definitive responses.

To turn a “maybe” or “soft no” into a “yes,” though, you need to be certain this bank really is your first choice – and then send a message like the following:

“Hi [Name],

Thanks again for taking the time to interview me last week. I enjoyed meeting everyone, and [Bank Name] is definitely my top choice.

I just wanted to let you know that I received an offer from [Other Bank Name], and it expires on [Imminent Date] – if I received an offer at your firm, I would accept it right away, but I must respond to the other offer by [Imminent Date].

It would be great if you could let me know my offer status at your firm and what else, if anything, you need from me in order to make a decision.

Thanks,

[Your Name]”

But this is easier said than done, and most likely you’re “on the fence” at a few firms.

2. Become a More Attractive Candidate So the Bank Reconsiders You

This one is tougher because you probably can’t go from “OK” to “spectacular” overnight – but if some time has passed and you’ve genuinely improved, it can work.

Example: One customer last year applied to a bank as part of the lateral hiring process, and made it through several rounds of interviews. Then they asked her to submit a sample financial model she had worked on before.

She didn’t have any great examples due to lack of experience with integrated 3-statement projection models, so they gave her a “soft no” and said that they were some “concerns” over her technical skills.

She then signed up for one of our courses, went through the whole thing, and got much better templates and examples to use – which she then used for a different company.

She went back to the bank and said, “I know we spoke XX months ago and you felt my technical skills were not strong enough. Since then, however, I’ve taken several courses and sharpened my skills, and I’m attaching to this email an example of the work product I can produce.”

Then, they responded and re-started the process, bringing her back for additional interviews.

If they had concerns about something qualitative, like your communication or writing skills, you could attach a report, paper, or presentation you drafted recently.

This is trickier to pull off if they gave you a “soft no” due to “lack of cultural fit” or something else that you cannot easily fix.

But if it is something you can fix, and you’ve pinpointed exactly why they had reservations about you, it’s always worth a shot.

3. Keep Following Up to Ask Exactly Why They Said “No” Directly or Indirectly

HR often gives useless responses, so you should go directly to the bankers you spoke with – and the Analysts and Associates are sometimes more upfront about why you were put “on hold.”

This method also handles the case where something stupid or something beyond your control happened: they lost your contact information, they “forgot” to respond to you, there was a hiring freeze, or the group shut down.

So you need to follow-up anyway – but many people hesitate to ask exactly why they did not receive an offer.

Let’s say you email one of the Associates you spoke with and he says he doesn’t know what your status is… so you call him after another week passes.

Associate: “Hey, I’m just not sure yet… did you ask HR?”

You: “I did, and I’m aware I should go to them first, but I wanted to go directly to you and ask you for feedback since you interviewed me.”

Associate: “OK… what would you like to know?”

You: “I’m aware that I haven’t been officially rejected, but that other candidates probably performed better – I just wanted to know if you had any feedback on what I could do to improve, what would make me a more attractive candidate for your firm, and what would allow you to make a decision more quickly.”

I’ve seen some suggestions that this approach is “too aggressive,” but I completely disagree – if you don’t ask, you’ll never know.

And if it wasn’t an outright rejection, chances are they liked something about you.

Once you get a hint of what went wrong, you can get to work on method #2 above and start fixing the issue – whether it’s your technical skills, a lack of enthusiasm, your communication abilities, or anything else.

Overcoming the Silent Treatment

Let’s return to that story in the beginning.

Do you really want to spend 143+ hours preparing for interviews, and then fail to get an offer because you’re not aggressive enough with your follow-up afterward?

I hope not.

So right after that VP shakes your hand, don’t just meekly go home and wait weeks and weeks for a response.

Follow-up with him and everyone else within 2 days, AT MOST, if you don’t hear back.

And if they keep stringing you along even after several follow-ups, ask them directly what you can do to improve or what their specific concerns about you are – and then address them.

Maybe you won’t have the time or resources to win the offer this time around…

But you can always accept something else, fix those flaws in the meantime, and make another run at it next time around.

About the Author

Brian DeChesare is the Founder of Mergers & Inquisitions and Breaking Into Wall Street. In his spare time, he enjoys memorizing obscure Excel functions, editing resumes, obsessing over TV shows, traveling like a drug dealer, and defeating Sauron.

Comments

Hey Brian, absolutely love this site, thank you for everything.
I had a 2-day (they took us to dinner, paid for hotel even though I live only 1 hr away, and then had a full day interview the next day) superday interview at a bank for a corporate strategy position.
They said they would reach out to us by today to tell us if we received/did not receive an offer. I received an email from HR stating that they are still evaluating candidates and will be in touch soon. They told me they are in no rush to hire candidates, and do not have a set number of spots available (they would take all of us if we are all qualified, or none of us if we did not fit). Would the #1 email be inappropriate (given I do not have another exploding offers at banks, but I do have another superday interview coming up for an investment firm)? I would definitely accept an offer from this bank on the spot.

At this point, maybe just follow up and reiterate your interest. it’s not that strong a message if you just tell them that you have an interview with another firm – it’s stronger if you can go back and tell them you have an actual offer elsewhere.

Hello, I have gone through my very first phone interview with one of BB in last week. Now..it has been 4 working days after the interview, but still no response from the bank. I have no available contact of interviewers…Do you think it is worth to contact even HR to get any update?

I applied for Frost bank Network position and havent’ heard back. I sent a follow up next day. a week later left a voice message to HR. Then 2 week send a follow up email to hiring manager. Still no response. Looks like it’s over.

My story: I am making a little career switch from buy-side quant research to sell-side equity research, and recently interviewed for equity research associate position at a boutique investment bank.

It was a 15-min pre-screening phone call with an MD. He seemed to like me and mentioned at the end of the conversation that he will have someone set up other calls/interviews and get the process moving along. It sounded like a good sign. But now I haven’t heard back from them for 2-3 days, I am starting to feel nervous.

I already sent a thank-you note after the interview, and am thinking about calling MD if I don’t hear back in a week. Would that be a good move on my part?

Great read! I am looking for your opinion on 2 offers I have received. Just as some background, I go to a non-target school and can graduate in either May 2016 or December 2016, depending on how hard I want to push myself this semester. That being said the 2 offers are:

Is there any scenario where you would accept a summer internship over a full-time offer. It seems crazy to me, but I am giving it some real thought due to the internship firm’s greater prestige, experience, and exit opportunities. Have you ever heard of someone doing this before?

I believe people have done so before. It depends on how risk averse you are. Having the CS name will most definitely help, but if you want stability and like corporate banking I’d choose 1. If you want IB, I’d choose 2.

Hey great read thanks! I recently applied and went through 2 rounds of interviews at a boutique, both which I think I completely aced. Second round was just before the Xmas break so I expected a late response but still nothing. When I emailed HR, no response, so I rang HR and they said “we haven’t received any feedback yet probably due to the regional and London office distance” what are your thoughts on this?

Will do thanks. This is the first time I’ve heard of regional-to-London office delays; it took 6 working days to hear my success after the first interview. Do you reckon this is more of a ‘you’re not the #1 choice’ or there could be some sort of regional office delay. Cheers!

I just finished my final round interviews for an IBD summer analyst at a BB and sent thank you notes to all my interviewers.

I am planning to follow up with the HR in 2 days if I have not heard back.
However, to ask for honest feedback, it is mentioned that I should follow up directly with my interviewers. I never get any reply for my thank you note (since the first round) – are there any other methods available for me to ask for feedbacks? I don’t have their number though… Is it possible to get the feedback from HR since I’m pretty close with him/her?

I had the super day interview at Morgan Stanley 10 days ago and they said they’d get back to me within 2 weeks. So I have been waiting until now and thought maybe there’s something I can do. Is a followup email at the point still appropriate? They asked me if I had any deadlines that I needed to respond and I said no. This really is my first super day interview.

I’ve had a number of superdays, and in some cases after I send a thank you email, I get a reply along the lines of “best of luck in the recruiting process” or “let’s definitely stay in touch”. I’m rather confused about the implications of the response–while it’s better than silence, it already seems like 1) I was not ultimately chosen for an offer and 2) despite that, they liked me enough as a person to want to stay in touch. Generally, how should I make of these messages, and should I continue emailing in hopes of turning the “soft no” to a “yes”? This happened twice after two of my superdays (both of which I’m pretty sure I did not get offers for), and today, after my superday yesterday. In the future, should I almost always interpret these emails as “we liked you, but you weren’t good enough?” Would love to hear some insight. Thanks.

I applied to Morgan Stanley through my schools career center about a week ago. How does the process work in terms of them reaching out to you when you apply through your University. Should I try contacting them or keep on waiting a few more weeks.

I think you can reach out to your alumni though I’m not sure if reaching out them is too useful at this stage especially with a bulge bracket like Morgan Stanley. If you do reach out to them, I’d do that in early Jan when people are back from holidays.

just for clarification what do you mean by at this stage? is it too late in the recruiting process for bulge bracket banks? because on this site I read somewhere that banks typically dont start interviews till the last minute and I applied and got my resume in before the deadline.
Thanks!

Since you’ve already applied then yes I think you’re fine. In terms of networking, it’s most effective to network a few months or even a year before the deadline so you establish a solid connection with people at the firms/industry. So if you’re just networking to improve the chances of your application, then yes the networking efforts can be done a bit earlier but it is better you network now than never.

I just finished my super day with a bank last Friday and I am doing lateral hiring. I am referred by a VP in the team, skipped the phone interview and went directly to the super day. After the interview (which was in the morning), I immediately sent out thank you notes to all interviewers in the afternoon, and one director who interviewed me got back saying “Thanks. Pleasure meeting you as well. Keep in touch”. I also asked the “next steps after the interview” in the thank you note to the VP that referred me, but never heard back from him.

Now it’s Tuesday and I haven’t heard anything from the bank. My original plan was to follow up next Monday if I still hear nothing from them. Now after I read this article, I was wondering whether I should follow up now? Or since it’s lateral hiring (whose process I assume is slower?), should I follow up after a week?

Thanks for this great article! I’m from the Philippines and I just quit my back office job. I just finished all the rounds of interviews and examinations for one of the leading banks here. When I followed up with the officer in charge for IB regarding my application, he told me that they have endorsed my application to their HR group for processing to be part of IB. So I follow up with the HR and ask about it and she states that they’ll coordinate with the IB group regarding the status of my application. Is this a good sign? It’s been 2 days now since my conversation with the HR and I was wondering how long should I wait until I can follow up again.

Hi,
I just finished an interview with the Head and the VP of the investment banking of a middle market investment bank and they said that i will hear back from them within 1 or 2 weeks. Should I be worried and that should still follow up after 2 days???

This is probably too general of a question… But, how difficult is it to transition from a client facing operations(corporate) finance role, to a job at an independent investment management firm? Or perhaps just a transition into the financial services side of the industry.

You could do it, but it really depends on your skill set and past experience… you’ll need to have really good stock pitches prepared to make that kind of move, plus be prepared to network extensively if you don’t already have industry contacts on that side. It also depends on what area of CF you are in right now.

Hey thanks for the great article! It came in right on time as I am facing a similar issue.

I had a bulge bracket bank Super day last Thursday, followed up that night and haven’t heard anything yet. Based on the fit, etc., this is indeed my first choice. However, I am from a non-target school, so getting those first rounds and offers in time is not as easy (and it’s already a bit late in the process?).

1) Would you still suggest sending “you are my #1 email”, or would you consider it pathetic and off-putting?

2) I am getting in touch with HR really soon. When should I be getting back to the interviewers? (I did send them emails the night after the interview — a week ago)

Thanks for everything you guys are doing! This blog took me from non-target, non-relevant background to a super day at bulge bracket. Thank you for that!

1) I would only send an email like that if you already had another exploding offer from a different bank – otherwise, it’s better just to follow-up and ask about your status as recommended here. And if they give a vague answer, dig into it more and see what the real story is. This tends to be better to do over the phone rather than via email.

2) I would follow-up with the interviewers as soon as possible and ask about your status with them as well. Even if you contact HR at the same time it’s fine – you just want to get to an answer as quickly as you can.

Thank you once again for the insights! I am wondering how different the process would be for experienced/lateral hire? I would imagine banks handing out offers shortly after the Superday as they have pretty much seen all the candidates they need to see, but lateral hire is a bit tricky as individual interviews are conducted.

Hey Brian I am at cross roads with regards to what I can do over the summer.
I have a chance to work with a new small private equity company over the summer.
Ultimately I want to end up in Investment banking. I Understand it is extremely difficult to get PE experience at undergraduate and so will this put me in much better stead then a internship at a mm investment bank to work at a bulge bracket bank?

Thanks.
Hey Brian we always hear on all the finance sites about how much people hate Investment banking and how they are just in it for private equity etc…
It would be great to hear from someone who is quite high up in Investment banking or maybe just starting out and actually enjoys their job.
I apologize if an interview like this has already been done before.
Its just it would be nice to hear about someone who has had a positive experience an an investment banker and gets proper satisfaction.
Thanks

Thanks for this Brian. My problem is, I got a referral to a local bank, the position perfectly fits me. But it has been 1 week and I heard nothing from them. The referral went thru someone very high-up so I think there has to be some response (even the bad one). What’s going on there and what should I do

Just ask again and follow-up via the phone and try something similar – say you understand if they’re not hiring or if you have to go through official channels etc. but you just wanted to find out your status directly from them so you cna proceed accordingly.